Friday's baseball/softball: WRHS baseball hangs on

PITTSFIELD -- Three times the Taconic baseball team tried to rally from behind against Wahconah on Friday. Two times, the Braves were successful.

But Taconic left the winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Warriors beat the Braves 9-8.

"We just played horrendous" baseball, said Taconic coach Kevin Stannard. "It was a comedy of errors."

Taconic had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the eighth when Myles Candelet led off with a triple but was doubled off on a squeeze play.

Shawn Folan's two-run single in the top of the ninth was part of a three-run inning.

The Braves countered in the home ninth with an RBI triple by Hunter Stanton and an RBI sigle by Ryan Shook. The Braves loaded the bases, but reliever Ryan Kasala got Luke Toomey looking to end the game.

LENOX -- When these teams played last month, the Millionaires were no-hit but won 2-0 in 11 innings. Friday's game was nothing like that.

The Crusaders scored in each of the five innings that were played, topping out with eight runs in the fourth. St. Joe's had 20 hits against three Lenox pitchers.

"They're like night and day after we played them the first time," Lenox coach Kevin Downer said of St. Joseph's.

Connor Lein went the distance for the Crusaders, scattering five hits and a walk while striking out five. Mike Carpenter, who was 3 for 3 with three RBI, hit a two-run home run in the first inning. Zach Neary also went 3 for 3 with three RBI while Jon Bianchi was 3 for 3.

DEERFIELD -- The Warriors went on the road to face another perennial Division II tournament team. Four unearned runs did them in against the Red Hawks.

"We didn't get the timely hit today," Wahconah coach Dustin Belcher said. "It seemed like every time we made an error [four of them], they found a way to push a run across."

The Red Hawks led 1-0 after four innings when the Warriors led off the fifth with a triple by Bayleigh MacHaffie. Wahconah left her stranded at third. Frontier responded with three runs on two hits and two errors in the home fifth.

PITTSFIELD -- St. Joseph's survived a wild one to reach the Western Mass. Division III tournament.

The Crusaders posted 12 runs in the sixth, turning a game that was 5-5 after four into a blowout. Chanler Hospot started on the mound and doubled twice while Meghan Tierney added a triple for St. Joseph's.

ADAMS -- Tori Rumbolt got the offense going with a two-run homer in the first inning, Ashley Ciepiela kept Monument Mountain at bay and Hoosac Valley topped the visiting Spartans in five innings.

"It's really nice to see they can just go out there and get going," Hoosac coach Morgan Shafer said. "Although, it took them a while to get going."

Rumbolt, who was 1 for 2 with two walks and two RBI, also scored in the fourth inning. She got on with an error. She then stole second and third before drawing a throw from the catcher and dashing home.

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